Netanyahu Response to Trumpâs Advocacy of Two-State Solution: âPalestinians will Never Have a Stateâ

In the midst of a UN speech praising the Israeli government and their heavy-handed tactics against the Palestinian civilian population of the territory the Israeli military has been occupying since 1967, Donald Trump voiced support for the âtwo-state solutionâ to the conflict. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated that, âPalestinians will never have a stateâ as long as he is in power.

After Trump and Netanyahu met on the sidelines of the United Nations Wednesday, he told reporters that even though Trump said that he favored a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians, âEveryone defines the term ‘state’ differently.â

However, since 1933, the Montevideo Convention has been the internationally-accepted definition for a state under international law. Adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States, the convention stipulated that all states were equal sovereign units consisting of a permanent population, defined territorial boundaries, a government, and an ability to enter into agreements with other states.

Israel, although recognized as a state in 1948, has never defined its borders, and has, through the decades, encroached further and further onto Palestinian land, so that it now controls more than 80% of the land area of what was, until 1948, the land of Palestine.

Trump reportedly said to the reporters, âIn one way itâs more difficult, because itâs a real estate deal. But in another way it works better because you have people governing themselves.â

But Netanyahu criticized Trumpâs statement, saying that Israel must permanently maintain its military occupation and control over the Palestinian civil population, with no Palestinian state that is both sovereign and self-deterined.

In response, the Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah, said: âThe two-state solution means to us that we have a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is the only way to achieve peace.â